The NYPD Shot A Hammer-Wielding Attacker in Midtown This Morning

Police officers stand near the hammer used in the attack. (Getty Images)

An NYPD officer shot a hammer-wielding man near Penn Station this morning, reportedly after he tried to attack an officer with the claw-end of his weapon, according to the New York Post. The suspect, 30-year-old David Baril, was shot three or four times near the intersection of 37th Street and Eighth Avenue, shortly before 10 a.m. Law enforcement officials suspect the man is the same person who’s wanted in a spree of hammer-attacks on Manhattan pedestrians around Union Square, earlier this week.

The Times quotes a witness who said the attacker swung his hammer at a woman—Officer Lauren O’Rouke—from behind. He missed. O’Rouke’s partner, Officer Geraldo Casaigne, then drew his weapon and fired as the suspect fled. At least one of the shots hit him in the head. NBC New York initially reported that the attacker had been killed; other outlets are reporting that he was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and remains in critical condition.

A “senior law enforcement official” told NBC New York that the officers involved in the attack were not significantly injured, and the confrontation was captured on an NYPD camera. Commissioner William Bratton is scheduled to give an updated briefing later this afternoon.